Joint-building machine



may 18 1926a D. M. SIMONS ET AL JOINT BUILDING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed August 29 1925 w/r/vassss May 18,3926 I 1,585,127

D. M. SEMONS ET AL JOINT BUILDING MACHINE Filed August 29 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIBJ //V VEA/TOAS fiwumm. Swim and ram/, fi-

May 18 1926.

D. M. SIMONS ET AL- JOINT BUILDING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed August 29, 1925 w/TNEs 656 Patented l flay ltd, 1926.

1,585,127 nr FICE.

, .nonatn in. sin ions, or osnonnn, nn n FRANK e; sannonn, onrnr'rsnonsn, PENN- SYJLVANIA, ASSIGNORS T STANDARD UBIDERGROUND CABLE COMPANY, OF PITTS- BURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORJPORATION OF EENNSYLVANIA.

' aom'rurtnrnd Itraonntn.

Application filed August 29, 1925. Serial lilo. 53,306.

@ur invention relates to machinery for applying insulation to cable oints. In applications tor Letters Patent oi the United i States, Serial No. 738,424, filed September 18, 1924; Serial No. 743,645, filed @ctober 15, 1924; Serial 1%.. 750,740, filed November 19, 192a; and Serial No. @8301, filed August 5, 1925, Donald M. Simone, one of the present applicants, has shown and described cable oints which include bodies of insulation .l

formed of sheetmaterial laid in a single wrap and in continuous spiral around the conducting parts. llnsulation so characterized and so applied. has shown itself to be: peculiarly serviceable inmak1ng installation oi cables adapted to carry currents of very high voltage. The joint is of necessity made inthe field, and the insulation, which overlies and success the union of the" con-' doctors andiso forms part of the joint 'structure must of necessity be applied in the field. Our present invention, as we have said, hes in a machine for wrapping to place such a web of sheet material. In a joint of-the kind suggested, the Web so applied may be a hundred feet long or more. If applied manually, as but for our invention it must be ap- ,plied,'a.very great deal of time i'slirequired,

- a half day, more or less to wrap the web to W place. With the use oi. our machine, the

wrapping may-be done, and with surer success, in a half hour or even less.

I! In the accounpanying drawingshig. I is 'a View in side'elevation of a wrapping Ina-- 3ft chine in which our 1nvent1on is embodied;

Fig. H is aview of the same machine, in end elevation, as seen from the lett, Fig.1; and Fig. llli is a view partly in opposite end view and pa'rtlyin vertical and transverse- Ml section,on the plane indicated at llllllil, llig. XV is a view, to larger scale, showing in side elevation an appliance which, organizedwith the other machine parts, serves to maintain the central body in t proper position, while the web oi sheet insu lating; material is, by the operation of the machine, being wrapped upon it. Fig. V is a plan View of the structure shown in IV. Figs. VI and VH-areviews (not, as will be understood, to the same scale with IV) in side.- elevation and in plan of a certain knife which may advantageously be organized with the other machine parts. Fig. Vllll is a view in elevation showing the cable ends prepared for the reception of the wrap. i

A frame 1, conveniently formed'of rolled steel channel is borne on suitable supports,

such as the tripods 1.1, for temporary erection in the field Upon-this frame two ops positely placed standards 12 are formed with semi-cylindrical seats 13; and" removable blocks it, provided with complementary semi cylindrical bearing faces, form. with i the standards clamps for holding a length of cable securely upon the frame while the machine is in operation upon it. These clamps, it will be understood, engage the cable at either side of the union of conductor ends, upon which union the joint structure is to be built.

connecting rods 61 is rotatably mounted upon the standards 12, coaxially with the cable seats tormedby the clamping'members already described. To this end,' in the machine illustrated, the standards12 and the blocks 14 are provided with extensions which, when the blocks 14 are in" place, present cylindrical bearing surfaces, upon which externally the heads of the drum are immediately mounted. For purposes of assembly, the drum heads 6 may be formed with radially extending spaces, of equal width with the cylindrical bearings, in which fillers 62 areremovably secured.

The drum heads are toothed peripherally,

as shown at 63, and the gear wheels so con:

A drum formed of opposite heads .6 and stituted mesh with pinions '81 borne by a Shaft 8 which, journalled inthe frame, extends in parallelism with the mounted drum.

This shaft may rotated inany suitable manner. .Mea-ns for rotating shaft 8 manually, and through shaft 8 the drum, are i found in a stub shaft 82 also journalled in frame '1, andprov ded with a crank and with a bevelled pinion 8% which meshes with.

a bevelled gear wheel 85 borne by the shaft 8.

The filler pieces 62 of the drum-heads d carry rotatably the paper reel. A satisfactory structure is that shown in detail in Fig.

A spool. Gel is rotatably carried upon opposits stub shafts 35, and these stub shafts 65 aremounted in the fillers62 in such inanner that while non-rotatable they are extensible and retractible longitudinallmim the application and removal of the spool, while the assembly continues in other respects undisturbed. Thumb nuts 66 control stub shafts 65 in their extension and retraction. The more minute details of structure will be understood'by the engineer, without particular illustration. I

The rods 61 serve two purposes. Structurally they secure the heads (5 in spaced relation and constitute with the heads the com pleted drum Functionally they define a guideway foi the paper, in its advance from the reel to the cable body which is in course of building, and afford friction surfaces, to

' ti hten the web. Referring particularly to Fig. III, the cable body in course of building will be understood to be located within the circle 18. The paper-laden reel is indi cated at 64:. The path of the advancing 'web of paper is indicated by the line a, and it will be seen that the paper advancing from the reel winds in and out, beneath one rod 61, over the next, beneath a third, and so on,

until. at last it reaches its place in the volute upon the work.

To anticipate more minute description below, it will be understood that rotation of the drum 'coaxially around the stationary cable body will effect the automatic unwinding of the web of paper from the reel and the winding of it upon the'cablc bod A indicated in Fig. III, the rods 61 may be adjusted and set in one or another of successive radial positions, indicated by a series of anchorage holes 67 in drum heads 6.

The rods may be non-rotatable, or, consisting as shown in Fig. III of sleeves around central stems, they may be idly rotatable. The number of rods 61 may be increased indefinitely, and the length of the sinuous path for the advancing web of paper may be exthe depth of the sinuosities may be varied.

the reel and so to place an additional rag.

tended to such degree as may be desired circumferentially around the drum, and by radial adjustment of the rods 61 individually,

A tension device is shown in Figs. Iand III, whose oifice is to brake the turnin of upon the automati advance of'the web of insulation, to the end that, being laid under tension, the applied body of insulation shall be'firm and compact and uniform inits structure. Resilient brake members, here shown in the form of fingers extend from a rod 61 which in the assembly lies adjacent to thepaper. reel. I The rod from which these fingers extend may be provided with any suitable adjustable anchorage against rotation; for example, as shown, the rod is pro- .free for removal and replacement.

Figs. IV and V show a device for holding thecable body against bending while the wrapping operation is in progress upon it. Manifestly, it is desirable, in order to have the applied wrap lie firm and compact, that the cable body during the wrapping operation extend without substantial departure y from its straight-line position. Accordingly, upon two of the rods 61 not overlaid by the web of paper,"the device is mounted. Its position is diagrammatically indicated at 9, Fig. I.

This attachment includes a frame 9, removably clamped to two rods 61. This frame affords swinging support for a pair of arms 91, which extend from a cable-engaging member 92, conveniently of the angular cross-section indicated in Fig. IV. An adjusting screw 93, also mountedin the frame, opposes the swing of member 92 and adjustably defines its position. A cable body is diagrammatically indicated at C in Figs. IV and V, and the course of the web of insulation in its approach to the cable body is in Fig. IV indicated at a. 'The cable body under treatment will be understood to be sup- .ported by the two clamps already described,

which may be spaced apart at an interval of three feet, more ;or less, and the attachment here,described serves to hold the reach of cable body between the clamps against lateral displacement when the\web of insulation is being automatically coiled upon it under tension.

Two of the rods 61 may carry a cutter, for preparing the cable ends for the reception of the web of insulation. The position of such a cutter is diagrammatically indicated at 10,

Fig. I, and the minutestructure of a suit- I able cutter is shown in Figs. VI and VII. A frame 110 is mounted upon a pair-of rods 61 and is movable along the rods. frame at one end a blade 111 is pivoted, and the frame is further provided with a setscrew 112, to hold the blade at a fixed ,(and

adjustable) point, against swinging back.

The frame may be provided with a guide 113 for that end of the blade which-1s remote from its pivot point.

When two cable nus are brought together, and their 'bared conductors are united, it is In this lead sheaths, for the reception of the joint insulation. This preparation may indeed be made before the union of the conductors is effected. We preferably, however, unite the bared conductor ends; then mount the united structure in our machine, and then, before applying the 'wrap of paper, prepare the cable body for its reception. 1 i

Fig. VIII indicates the preferred form to which the ends of machine-laid insulation and of lead sheath are brought: from the union. to the bodies {2' of machine-laid insulation recede ina succession of steps. and the outermost and last;step is formed by the lead sheath 5. When the cable body includ iug two cable end s with bared conductors united has been clamped to place in our machlne, adjustment of the knife along rods 6t and of the blade in its frame followed by rotation of the drum will effect a cut, defining the rise of any are of the steps shown in Fig Vlll, whether the cut be through lead or through lead and paper or through paper only. The guide 113 for the blade in .the frame may be provided with a stop which I a succession of holes 114, and thus thedepth of the successive cuts may by predetermined means be ac curately defined.

When the cable apparent, must be of' proper width and must be so particularly "placed in the machine, as to come accurately to andto fill the spaee'prepared for it. For a cable body prepared as shown in Fig. VIII, insulation must be of corresponding width, increasing'in a succession'ot steps. And,

similarly, as the rods 61 carry a blade for preparing the cable ends in the manner described either of the rods over which the web a of insulation advances from the reel to the cable body may be equipped with -blades which shall automatically shear the web of insulation at exactly the desired points to precisely the desired width. And similarly as the blade first described'is adjustable along the rods (31, these blades for cutting the web of insulation may be adjustable. Two of these will ordinarily be provided, operative simultaneously on opposite sides of the web. l'n placeot' specially provided blades, it is manifest that the operator of the machine may slit the web with a l nife*blade as it advances; but a machine operated cutter is better and we indicate. at 100: Fig.1, a pair of blades mounted on a rod 61. It is manifest that by causing the cutters to progress 'ania'lly as the-drum rotates as well as radially, in; the case*o f cutter 10) the resultant shape ofca'ble endand of web may be taperingfinstead of being stepped, as shown in the drawings, the tacable body .is then introduced through the body" ready to receive its wrap of insulation the insulation, as will. be

the web vat of- ,pered form being the limiting form, as the "number of steps increases.

In operation a joint casing is first slipped over one of the cable ends. Then the conductors, protruding sutliciently from the cable ends, are united electrically, asby a sweated -on sleeve u, Fig. VIII. The machine is setup and made firm in the horizon- I tal position indicated. The thus far united radiaLgaps in thedrum heads 6 and brought to place in the seats. 13, with the union u Inidway of the lengtli'of the machine The blocks 14 are applied, and the cable body ,clampedto place. The fillers G2 are brought- "t0 place and secured in the drum heads.

Knife 1.10 is then brought into play, adjustegl to position, and its blade; set, and the handle 83 turned,to rotate the drum. The initial cut will be through the cable sheath and underlying insulation, and at the proper apoint. When this initial out has been made, the cut-away material may be removed. Then, by successive settings and adjustments of the knife the cable ends are cut away in symmetrically, succeeding pairs of. steps. Thus the cable body is prepared for the reception' of the. web of insulation, the laying of whichv is the primary purpose of the machine.

A spool full of paper or other insulation. is brought to place and mounted on stub shafts65. The forward end of the web of paperis carried in pathway a around so many of bars 61 as may havev been deter mined on,.an'd then secured to the cable body.

It may be that the smaller spaces around the sweated-on sleeve u and between the lowest steps of cut-away insulation are filled with hand-wrappd insulation, to the depth of the first step, or it may be that even these spaces are to be filled in the operation of our machine. In any case the advance end of the web of material is secured to the cable body. The advance end will be carefully cut to exactly the width of the space or spaces to be filled, and the knives 100 will be set to the proper positions. The crank 83 is turned and automatically the web of paper a'd-' vances, is trimmed and laid upon the cable body. Tension may be increased by turning ratchet- 68,.andl will be increased by such means as the coil of paper on spool 64: decreases in depth. Othermeans of increasing tension. have been indicated. As each space between steps of insulation is filled, knives 100 will be adjusted to new positions and the paper will be cut across from the end of one cut to the beginning of the next.

The web of materia'lwrapped by the matcrials wil be flushed with such liquid material at the point where the advancing web meetsthe cable body.

In such manner all the space between the cut-away ends of machine-laid insulation may be filled. At that point the Wrapping may cease and the Wrapped-on material may be s cured and the joint may then be completed in other manner; or the wrapping may continue and in continuous Web and in a single wrap the joint may be built out with insulation. The so enlarged body may carry at the margins of the wrap strips of metal, and these may be laid down in electric continuitywith the cut-away ends. of the cable sheath, in the manner and for the purposes set forth in the companion application of Simons, mentioned above, filed September 18, 1924, Serial No. 738,424;

hen the joint is otherwise completed, the joint casing is slipped to place and secured at its ends to the cable sheath. It then is flushed with liquid insulation. Thus the joint is finished, and stands ready for serv- The machine which constitutes the present invention is Well adapted for field service,

and in its use joints of great electrical strength may speed.

lVe-claim as our invention: 1. In a joint-building machine for electrical cables the combination of a frame provided with two clamps having aligned cable seats, a drum rotatably mounted in said frame, coaxially'with such cable seats, and a rotatable :shaft borne by said frame and geared to said drum, the drum being rotatable in response to shaft rotation. h

2.- In a joint-building machine for electrical cables the combination of a frame provided wtih two clamps having aligned cable seats, and a drum rotatably mounted, coaxially with such cable seats, said drum consist-.

ing of opposite heads and connecting rods,

and theheads of the drum being provided with radially extending slots of a Width as great as the cable seats of the aforesaid clamps.

3. In a joint-building machine for electrical cables the combination of a frame provided with two clamps having aligned cable seats, a drum rotatably mounted, coaxially with such cable. seats, said drum consisting of opposite-heads and connecting rods, andthe heads of the drum beingv provided with radially extendingslots of a width as great as the cable seats of the aforesaid clamps, and removable closures for such slots, said removable closures being provided with means for carrying rotatably a reel for sheet material.

4. In ajoint-building machine for electrical cables the combination of a frame provided with clamps having aligned cable seats, a drum rotatably mounted, coaxially be built at unprecedented .material rotatably mounted in the said bearlngs. 4

5. In a joint-building machine for electrical cablesthe combination of a frame provided with clamps having aligned cable seats, a'drum rotatably mounted, coaxially with such cable seats, a reel for sheet material rotatably mounted between the heads of said drum, a rod extending between the heads of the drum adjacent such reel, a brake member extending from said rod, and means for securing said brake member against rotation on the rod axis. 6. In a joint-building machine for electrical cables the combination of a frame provided with clamps having aligned" cable seats, a'drum rotatably mounted, coaxially with suclrcable seats, a reel for sheet mate- 'rial rotatably mounted between the heads of said drum, a rod extending between the against rotation on the rod axis.

7. In a joint-forming machine for electrical cables the combination of a frame, two clamps borne by said frame and provided with aligned cable'seats, a drum rotatably mounted on said frame coaxially with such cable seats, said drum consisting of opposite heads and spacing rods, said rods being adjustable in their position radially with respect to said heads, and a reel for sheet material rotatably borne between the drum heads.

8. In a joint-forming machine for electrical cables the combination of a frame pro vided with clamps having aligned cable seats, a. drum rotatably mounted in said .longitudinallyof said drum.

9. In a joint-forming machine for'elec-- trical cables the combination of a frame provided with clamps .having aligned cable seats, a drum rotatably mounted in said frame coaxially with said cable seats, said drum including opposite heads and a headconnectingrod, a reel forsheet material rotatably borne by saiddrum, a support borne by and movable. longitudinally upon said rod, and a knife blade borne by said support and adjustable in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the structure.

10. In a joint-forming machine for electrical cables the combination of a. frame provided with clamps having aligned cable seats, a drum rotatably mounted in said frame. coaxially with said cable'seats, a reel for sheet material rotatably mounted in said drum, a knife borneby s'aid drum and adjustable both axially and radially of the drum, and asecond knife also borne by said drum and adjustable longitudinallyv thereof.

11. In a joint-forming machine for elec trical cables the combination of a frame proyided with clamps haying aligned cable seats; a drum borne by said frame and rotatable coaXially with such cable seats, a reel for sheet material rotatably borne by said drum, and a deflection-resisting abutment borne by said drum and extending adjacent an introduced cable body.

12. Ina joint-forming machine for electricalcablesthe combination of a frameprovided with clamps having aligned cable seats, a drum borne by said frame and rotatable coax'ially with such cable seats, such drum including opposite headsand a headconnecting:rod, a reel for sheet material r0- tat'ably borne by said drum andadapted to deliver sheet material over said rod to a cable body clamped to said seats, and an abutment borne b said drum and extending. adjacent the position occupied by. a'cable body when clamped to said seats, said abutment being adjustable radially of anintroduced cable body.

l 13. In a joint-building machine for electrical cables the combinationo'f means for clamping the cable structure against rota DONALD M. 'SIMONS. FRANK D.IBARBOUR. 

